Emorries

a magnifying glass over photos and books

Emorries

n.
vivid memories of a certain experience that you carry in your head for years until they’re casually disputed by someone who remembers it very differently—correcting basic chronology, clarifying a misread gesture, or adding context you never knew—which makes you want to look again at all the images you’ve been using to piece together your worldview, wondering what details might’ve been hidden in shadow all this time, or washed out by your own naïveté.

After documentary filmmaker Errol Morris, whose work often addresses the fallibility of memory and how little of reality can be captured in a photograph. Pronounced “em-uh-reez,” like memories, but with a piece missing.

Exulansis

Cover image for the Exulansis word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Covalent Bond

Cover image for the Covalent Bond word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Mithenness

a person standing on the side of a road

Incidental Contact High

Cover image for the Incidental Contact High word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

1202

Cover image for the 1202 word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Beloiter

a person sitting at a slot machine